After several years of absence, the School of Choral Singing was reintroduced at the University of Arts, demanding artistic specialty with technical and musical rigor that will absolutely bring a beneficial increase among the new generations of singers.
It was already proven in the morning of January 17th at the Cervantes Hall in the Historic Center of Havana, through the first graduate in the specialty since the reopening of the Department: the soprano Helen Fabelo Martí, in charge of offering a coherent and well-arranged recital in every genre presented.
The young performer proved important elements in her work, which suggests the presence of an artist that could establish important trends in concert music in the country; with an innate tuning, good appearance, accurate musicality and clear profound study of every musical style and the phonetics used.
Under the tutelage of the also soprano Conchita Franqui, she followed a route, perfect from beginning to end, around different epochs; with a well-arranged and sensitive organization, only intending to have music favoring the voice, giving us a sonorous trip from ancient music to contemporaneity.
In perfect harmony with the pianist Vilma Garriga, there were outstanding arias like When I am laid, from Dido and Aeneas, by Henry Purcell; and O mio babbino caro, from Gianni Schicchi, by Giacomo Puccini.
In the meantime, Canción del árbol del olvido by Carlos Guastavino, and Mi corza blanca by Eduardo Morales Caso were laudable. The first one is apparently simple. However, if it is well-performed, it grows to the exact dimension its composer wrote it, even more with the accurate idea of adding the box as a percussion accompaniment.
On the other hand, Mi corza blanca is highlighted as a profound piece, which Helen was able to understand from the origin itself of its creative essence.
Likewise, pieces by Johan Sebastian Bach and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart were performed in their right measure, just like Schubert´s work, which the young girl translated into a proper exercise of the romantic style as for the duality music-text and accompanying piano with Nächt und Traume. By the same composer she also sang Ave Maria in the version for voice and vibraphone by Nathalie Chongo.
It was a pleasant morning for the audience and even more, joyful for the higher education in Cuba which, as it bets on the reintroduction of the specialty, it offers artists with the guarantee of a well-done work and a generation ready to take over from the previous one, and which, if properly taken care of and developed, will definitely bring about the growth of the concert song and a better sound quality for our choirs, for the sake of Cuban culture.
Translation by Alberto Morales
